A Cost Analysis of a Community Health Worker Program in Rural Vermont

Studies have shown that community health workers (CHWs) can improve the effectiveness of health care systems; however, little has been reported about CHW program costs. We examined the costs of a program staffed by three CHWs associated with a small, rural hospital in Vermont. We used a standardized...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of community health 2013-12, Vol.38 (6), p.1050-1057
Main Authors: Mirambeau, Alberta M., Wang, Guijing, Ruggles, Laural, Dunet, Diane O.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural Laborers
Community and Environmental Psychology
Community health care
Community Health Workers - economics
Community Relations
Cost analysis
Cost Effectiveness
Costs and Cost Analysis
Data collection
Diabetes
Disease Control
Ethics
Health Care Costs
Health Personnel
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Health Services
Health Services Accessibility
Hospitals
Humans
Hypertension
Interpersonal Relationship
Low Income Groups
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Nutrition
ORIGINAL PAPER
Patients
Pregnancy
Program Costs
Program Evaluation - economics
Public Health
Reading Materials
Resource allocation
Rural areas
Rural Health Services - economics
Vermont
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Summary:Studies have shown that community health workers (CHWs) can improve the effectiveness of health care systems; however, little has been reported about CHW program costs. We examined the costs of a program staffed by three CHWs associated with a small, rural hospital in Vermont. We used a standardized data collection tool to compile cost information from administrative data and personal interviews. We analyzed personnel and operational costs from October 2010 to September 2011. The estimated total program cost was $420,348, a figure comprised of $281,063 (67 %) for personnel and $139,285 (33 %) for operations. CHW salaries and office space were the major cost components. Our cost analysis approach may be adapted by others to conduct cost analyses of their CHW program. Our cost estimates can help inform future economic studies of CHW programs and resource allocation decisions.
ISSN:0094-5145
1573-3610
DOI:10.1007/s10900-013-9713-x